William Jefferson ‘Bill ‘ Clinton

Project Description

William Jefferson ‘Bill ‘ Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III)

Place of Birth

Hope, Arkansas, United States

Industry

Politician and former (42nd) president of the United States

Bill Clinton

Business

Bill Clinton started his political career as governor of Arkansas in 1979 – 1981 and again in 1983 – 1992. He was elected as the president of the United States in 1992 after defeating George Bush. His substantial wealth was amassed with book authorship fees and speaking fees. It was reported that Clinton made over US$25 million in the year 2014 alone and more than US$104 between 2001 and 2012. Each speech he makes earns between US$100,000 and US$200,000.

Philanthropy and Sponsorship

Bill Clinton was very successful at being a president. He was the third youngest president in the United States and held his position for the longest peaceful period in American history. He also became the second Democrat ever to be elected as president twice and served two terms between 1993 and 2001 during which time the creation of over 22 million jobs was credited to him. At the end of his tenure Clinton left the presidential office with the highest approval rating of any US president since the second world war. After leaving the office in 2001 he continued playing a very active public role in the United States by giving speeches, founding charitable foundations and doing fundraising. This was also the ideal opportunity for him to continue with the charitable work he started when he launched The Clinton Presidential Centre in 1997. Another one of the first organisations he started was the William J. Clinton Foundation, which has since been renamed to being the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation.

With no longer having the responsibility of running the country, Bill Clinton started working towards driving the international charitable organisation forward. Some of his ideas were modest, like helping a Harlem business owner who was in trouble. Other initiative were on a larger scale, for example saving millions of lives by getting involved with the launch of an HIV/Aids drug in Africa after Nelson Mandela reminded Clinton of a promise he made to help Africa once he is no longer president of the United States. By using his substantial contact list Bill Clinton set the ball rolling on other major international initiatives involving celebrities like Bono and Brad Pitt, millionaires like the Mexican mogul Slim, major companies like Starbucks and Goldman Sachs and even royalty like the crown prince of Bahrain. Scottish shoe store tycoon Tom Hunter became interested in helping Africa when he met Clinton at a dinner party and was invited by Clinton to tour Africa. This led to a joint initiative that helps eliminate poverty in the farming communities in Rwanda and Malawi.